Twitter user swiftly sabotages Zimmerman juror’s book deal

3 years ago

A Twitter user who launched a social media campaign to stop a juror in the George Zimmerman case from getting a book deal has succeeded in her effort—within six hours.

On Monday, Juror B37, one of six female jurors who made the controversial decision to acquit Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, told Anderson Cooper that she had signed with a literary agent to shop a tell-all book about her experience during the three-week, televised trial.

The agent, Sharlene Martin, told Yahoo News that the juror reached out to her on the advice of a producer from a morning show and that the juror had said she was planning to publish the book anonymously “given the sensitivity of the verdict and the outpouring of mixed reactions by the American public.”

After murdering Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman was acquitted, even though juror B37 admitted (in a CNN interview) that Zimmerman "went too far", and didn't "stop at the limitations he should've stopped at". Now that very juror, who allowed Trayvon Martin's killer to get away, is writing a book. Please don't allow this person to profit off of the injustice that they've served to the American public. We deserve better. Trayvon Martin's family deserves better.

The petition quickly reached 1,000 signatures, and the Martin Literary Agency released a statement late Monday:

After careful consideration regarding the proposed book project with Zimmerman Juror B37, I have decided to rescind my offer of representation in the exploration of a book based upon this case.

I realize it was necessary for our jury to be sequestered in order to protect our verdict from unfair outside influence, but that isolation shielded me from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of this case. The potential book was always intended to be a respectful observation of the trial from my and my husband’s perspectives solely and it was to be an observation that our "system" of justice can get so complicated that it creates a conflict with our "spirit" of justice. Now that I am returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury.